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Portraits (6)
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The Balgonie BirdmanBrian Duchscherer 1991 8 minA small prairie town has few secrets but in Balgonie, Saskatchewan, Bill Gibson had one. Each night, when most folks were home asleep, Bill was busy in his workshop. You see, Bill had a dream. He was building a flying machine. This short puppet animation tells his story. -
Bate's Car: Sweet as a NutTony Ianzelo 1974 15 minThis short film presents Mr. Bate, an inventor who discovers a substitute for gasoline in barnyard manure. Even though he fits the classic mould of single-minded know-how and practical dreamer, his discovery is tried and tested. He demonstrates how his home-made digester does turn manure into potent methane gas that powers his auto. And for good measure, he demonstrates his latest sustainable invention – a bicycle powered by the bumps on the road.
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The DefenderStephen Low 1988 54 minThis documentary is about Bob Diemert of Carman, Manitoba, and his dream of building the world's next great fighter plane. His worldwide reputation as a genius at restoring "warbirds" enables him to finance his dream. The Defender is a lively, sometimes wild and funny, tale about a remarkable, modern-day folk hero.
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I Want to Be an EngineerBeverly Shaffer 1983 28 minThis film provides a lively introduction to the professional and personal lives of three female engineers--just a few of the growing number of women who are opting for "non-traditional" jobs. Their enthusiasm for and commitment to their work makes them convincing role models for high-school girls who might be considering engineering as a career possibility. As well, the film is effective in fostering positive attitudes towards women working in the traditionally male professions of science and technology. Support material available.
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Small Is Beautiful: Impressions of Fritz SchumacherDouglas Kiefer , Barrie Howells , … 1978 29 minThis film is a short documentary portrait of economist, technologist and lecturer Fritz Schumacher. Up to age 45, Schumacher was dedicated to economic growth. Then he came to believe that the modern technological explosion had grown out of all proportion to human need. Author of Small Is Beautiful - A Study of Economics as if People Mattered and founder of the London-based Intermediate Technology Development Group, he championed the cause of "appropriate" technology. The film introduces us to this gentle revolutionary a few months before his death.
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Zulu TimeJonny Silver 1999 52 minBest known as the amicable Director of the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto, Derrick de Kerckhove is at the core of a world think-tank dedicated to probing the rapid changes of our global village. The documentary Zulu Time follows this "wired man" in his globe-trotting career as media prophet and probes into some of the most fascinating questions confronting us in our new electronic galaxy. As the spiritual inheritor of McLuhan's thought, de Kerckhove lives in perpetual oscillation between himself and his double, Marshall McLuhan, with whom he has become publicly identified and virtually assimilated.
